FILE PHOTO: A worker cleans the floor as an AirAsia plane is seen flying past the new Terminal 3 Ultimate ahead of its opening at Soekarno Hatta airport in Jakarta, Indonesia, August 5, 2016.  REUTERS/Beawiharta/File Photo
Indonesia

Airlines cancel Bali flights as volcano spews 10 km ash cloud

Several international airlines cancelled Bali flights on Wednesday amid volcanic eruptions that have spewed ash clouds as high as 10 km and forced thousands to evacuate.

DENPASAR, Indonesia (Reuters) - Several international airlines cancelled flights to and from Indonesia's resort island of Bali on Wednesday, after further eruptions of a volcano that has spewed ash clouds as high as 10 km (32,808 ft) and forced thousands to evacuate.

Jetstar and Qantas said they had stopped flights to Bali on Wednesday for safety reasons because of volcanic ash, while plane tracking website Flightradar24 showed flights to the island by AirAsia and Virgin were also cancelled.

Singapore Airlines said it had cancelled a flight on Wednesday from Bali to Singapore due to the eruption.

Bali is Indonesia's top tourist hotspot and is a popular destination for Australian visitors.

All flights to and from the island of Lombok in the West Nusa Tenggara province, another popular destination for tourists, were also cancelled, a local airport spokesperson was quoted as saying by Indonesia's state news agency Antara.

The first eruption of the Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki on Nov. 3 in the East Nusa Tenggara province, about 800 km (497 miles)from Bali, killed at least nine people. It has since erupted repeatedly, including multiple times on Tuesday.

From Nov. 4 to Nov. 12, 80 flights in Bali were cancelled, including from Singapore, Hong Kong, and several Australian cities, said Ahmad Syaugi Shahab, general manager of Bali's Ngurah Rai airport.

Indonesia has close to 130 active volcanoes and sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an area of high seismic activity atop various tectonic plates.

The ash column from Mount Lewotobi has reached as high as 10 km and authorities have said sand fall has covered surrounding areas.

(Reporting by Sultan Anshori in Denpasar, Alasdair Pal in Sydney, and Xinghui Kok in Singapore; Writing by Stanley Widianto; Editing by Martin Petty & Shri Navaratnam)

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